Writing as Habit: Not a Job, Not a Chore

Remember, a page a day equals a book a year. Now there aren’t too many writers around who create a book a year. . . . But it’s not the outcome that is most important, it’s the method: one page per day.

The page doesn’t have to be good or interesting or worthy of publication. What that page (250 words, one double-spaced piece of paper) does is to feed your habit as a writer. You want writing to become a habit, not a job, not a chore, not a responsibility; not something you do every month or so, but something you do every day.

If you exercise a half hour a day, you will be a very fit person. If you write every day (and forgive yourself those occasions when you don’t), you will become a very fit writer. Now get to writing!

— Roy Peter Clark

Painting: Pablo Picasso

See also: The Race, The Swift and the Finish Line